JPH0695505B2 - Wafer supply / collection device in a wafer single-wafer inner peripheral blade two-division cutting device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a wafer supply / recovery device in a wafer single wafer type inner peripheral blade two-division cutting device.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, regarding cutting of a semiconductor wafer, for example, the present applicant has previously proposed Japanese Patent Application No. 63-162043 for the purpose of manufacturing a substrate for a discrete device.

In such a device configuration for single-wafer inner peripheral blade cutting of semiconductor wafers, generally, (a) an unprocessed semiconductor wafer supply step, (b) an unprocessed semiconductor wafer cutting step, and (c).
It is required to have each mechanism capable of satisfying the process of collecting processed semiconductor wafers.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-described conventional semiconductor wafer cutting apparatus configuration,
Since the steps (a) and (c) other than the step (b), which is a direct cutting process, take a considerable amount of time, the time can be shortened by increasing the operating speed of these steps (a) and (c). It has been attempted to improve the efficiency of the whole cutting process by aiming at, but if the operation speed of the steps (a) and (c) is increased, the semiconductor wafer, which is a brittle thin body, may be damaged. There is a problem that it ends up.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to supply a wafer in a two-division cutting apparatus for a semiconductor wafer capable of efficiently supplying and recovering the semiconductor wafer without damaging the semiconductor wafer. It is to provide a recovery device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the semiconductor wafer supply / recovery apparatus according to the present invention employs the following means.

That is, according to claim 1, a cutting mechanism vertically equipped with an inner peripheral cutting blade that rotates at a high speed to cut the semiconductor wafer from the center of its thickness width and divides the wafer into two, and a supplied unprocessed semiconductor wafer. Holding mechanism that holds the wafer horizontally and becomes a processed semiconductor wafer, a position feeding mechanism that relatively moves the cutting mechanism and the holding mechanism in the vertical direction so as to move closer to and away from each other, the cutting mechanism, and the holding mechanism. In a wafer single-wafer inner peripheral blade two-division cutting device equipped with a cutting and feeding mechanism for horizontally moving the wafer in parallel and in reverse, a cooperative operation of wafer delivery between a wafer collecting / supplying mechanism and a holding mechanism. The time loss of the cutting suspension due to is set to the minimum necessary.Therefore, the collection side hand and the supply side hand that directly act on the wafer at the action part of the terminal of the wear collection mechanism and the supply mechanism are closest to the holding mechanism. After the completion of cutting the wafer, the wafer is held and lifted, and the processed two wafers are collected at the same time by the holding mechanism in which the distance between the two holding plates is enlarged. One processing wafer is delivered, and the holding mechanism adopts a means for moving for cutting by a predetermined setting operation.

Further, when the holding mechanism starts a predetermined movement for cutting the wafer, the wafer recovery mechanism carries out a transfer and storage operation of the two processed wafers to the recovery part in parallel, and the wafer supply mechanism does not move the wafer from the supply part. A means that can accurately and surely perform the operation of taking out one processed wafer with a margin (the wafer cutting time is overwhelmingly longer than the time required for supplying and collecting the wafer) is adopted.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the function and structure of the wafer holding mechanism is such that the holding mechanism holds the wafer firmly during cutting (main) and the holding board (sub) holds the wafer to be cut off. With this function, the processed wafers that have become two pieces after cutting are securely held, and because they work together with the terminal action part of the wafer supply / recovery mechanism, they rise to the operating plane and expand the distance between both holding plates. The two processed wafers are handed over to the collecting side hand, which is the terminal acting part of the wafer collecting mechanism, which is inserted, and one unprocessed wafer and the take-up holding board (from the supplying hand, which is the terminal acting part of the wafer feeding mechanism). (Mainly) to reduce the distance between the two holding plates again, the center of the wafer thickness width is indexed by the positioning mechanism, and the cutting / feeding mechanism is used for wafer cutting, and the operation is linked with the wafer supply / recovery mechanism. To avoid efficiently reliably and inner cutter employing a means be made safely.

Further, in claim 3, the unprocessed semiconductor wafer is a wafer that is particularly useful for manufacturing a substrate for a discrete device, and has an impurity diffusion layer on both sides thereof and has a line-symmetrical material characteristic with respect to the center line of the thickness width. Use the one with.

[Operation] According to the above-mentioned means, the cutting process and the feeding process and the collecting process are simultaneously performed by the operation setting of the supply / recovery mechanism to reduce the time, and the cutting mechanism is separated from the cutting mechanism by the operation setting of the holding mechanism. Since the cutting process, the supplying process, and the collecting process are linked at the specified position to ensure safe and reliable handling,
An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer supply / recovery device capable of efficiently cutting and processing a semiconductor wafer without damaging it.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of a semiconductor wafer cutting apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, the inner peripheral blade is of a vertical type that rotates in a horizontal plane.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a cutting mechanism 1, a cutting feed mechanism 4, and a cutting process, which are provided for the cutting process,
It is composed of a holding mechanism 2, a position feeding mechanism 3 linked to each of the supply process and the recovery process, a supply recovery mechanism 5 used for the supply process and the recovery process, a supply unit 6 and a recovery unit 7.

The cutting mechanism 1 is of an inner peripheral type, and includes a dish-shaped chuck 11 that is connected to a rotary shaft and rotates at high speed, a disc-shaped cutting blade 12 having a cutting edge such as a diamond layer on the inner peripheral edge, and a cutting blade 12. The chuck 11 is provided with a ring-shaped mounting member 13 that is fixed to the circumference of the chuck 11 by tension.

This cutting mechanism 1 is fixedly installed with the cutting surface of the cutting blade 12 horizontal in the entire apparatus, and the cutting blade 12 rotates at high speed on the fixed cutting surface as shown in FIG. 1 (A). Then, the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is cut from the substantially central portion of its thickness width and divided into two parts.

The holding mechanism 2 includes a holding plate (main) 21 and a holding plate (sub) 22 which are made of a porous material or the like and which vertically face each other and are connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) to perform a holding function of a suction structure. A space adjusting drive unit 24 such as an air cylinder or a servomotor that is connected to the holding plate 21 of the above through a rod 23 to adjust the distance between the holding plates 21 and 22, and a cutting mechanism for cutting the holding plates 21 and 22 on a vertical plane. 1 and a base 25 that enables separation and separation.

This holding mechanism 1 operates the holding functions of both holding plates 21 and 22,
When released, the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W and the processed semiconductor wafer W ′ are held and released.
Allows the unprocessed wafers to be transferred to and removed from the holding plate 22 only at a position separated from the cutting mechanism 1. At the time of this transfer and removal, as shown in FIG.
The intervals between are expanded. In addition, the holding mechanism 2 operates the holding function of the holding plate 22 to cut the wafer while sucking and holding the supplied unprocessed semiconductor wafer W, and at the latest, the holding function of the holding plate 21 also operates immediately before the end of cutting. The one processed semiconductor wafer W ′ cut by the cutting mechanism 1 is continuously held without being cut off.

The position feed mechanism 3 is composed of a servo motor or the like for vertically moving the holding plates 21 and 22 of the holding mechanism 2 integrally with each other on the base 25 in the vertical direction.

The position feeding mechanism 3 is arranged so that the holding mechanism 2 is brought close to the cutting mechanism 1 and a substantially central portion of the thickness width of the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is indexed to the cutting surface of the cutting blade 12 of the cutting mechanism 1. ,
The holding mechanism 2 is separated from the cutting mechanism 1 to avoid the cutting blade 12 of the cutting mechanism 1 and to be able to cooperate with the supply and recovery mechanism 5.

The cutting feed mechanism 4 uses the base 25 of the holding mechanism 2 (including both holding plates 21 and 22) to feed both holding plates 21 and 2 by the position feeding mechanism 3.
It consists of a servo motor etc. that moves in the direction orthogonal to the approaching and separating directions of 2.

The cutting feed mechanism 4 starts to move after the position feeding mechanism 3 has indexed a substantially central portion of the thickness width of the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W to the cutting surface of the cutting blade 12 of the cutting mechanism 1. . The position feed mechanism 3 does not operate while the cutting feed mechanism 4 is operating.

The supply / recovery mechanism 5 is a vertical operation plane between a position separated from the cutting mechanism 1 of the holding mechanism 2 and the supply part 6 of the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W and the recovery part 7 of the processed semiconductor wafer W ′. And a horizontal movement plane, and a rod 51 that is connected to a stepping motor, a rotary actuator, etc. and can rotate and move up and down.
An arm 52 horizontally attached to the upper end of 51 and a hand with a suction function slidably attached to the arm 52.
It has 53 and. These rod 51, arm 52, hand 53
Is an overall compact structure in which an unprocessed semiconductor wafer W supply system and a processed semiconductor wafer W'recovery system are provided adjacent to each other via the arrangement line of the cutting mechanism 1 and the holding mechanism 2. Is being promoted. The trace of the rotation axis of the hand 53 is designed to rotate between the holding plates 21 and 22 of the holding mechanism 2 and between the supply unit 7 and the recovery unit 6 in a horizontal plane. It should be noted that the supply-side and recovery-side hands 53 are provided with suction portions 53 'on one side or both sides, so that one material wafer W and two processed semiconductor wafers W'are reliably and easily supplied and simultaneously collected. You can do it.

The supply / recovery mechanism 5 is connected to the holding mechanism 2 that operates and releases the holding function at a position where the holding mechanism 2 is separated from the cutting mechanism 1, as shown in FIGS. 3 (C) to 3 (E). Although the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W and the processed semiconductor wafer W ′ are delivered by the hand 53 through the arm 52 by the rotation and elevation of 51, the holding mechanism 2 approaches the cutting mechanism 1 and the wafer is cut and separated. Before returning to the above position, the processed semiconductor wafer W ′ received by the rotation and elevating of the rod 51 is conveyed to the collecting section 6 and stored therein, as shown in FIGS. 3 (F) and (B). Supply unit 7 for new unprocessed semiconductor wafer W
It is designed to be picked up from the container, complete the transportation, and stand by.

The unprocessed semiconductor wafer W supply unit 7 and the processed semiconductor wafer W'collection unit 6 have partitions, grooves, etc. in which the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W and the processed semiconductor wafer W'can be arranged in parallel. It has a cassette structure and is fixedly installed near the cutting mechanism 1. Therefore, the rod 51 of the supply and recovery mechanism 5
Is moved up and down by a constant pitch every time the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is taken out and the processed semiconductor wafer W'is stored, and the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is taken out in sequence and processed semiconductor wafer W '
Is designed to be stored. The two processed semiconductor wafers W'are stored by moving the rods 51 one by one using the 180 ° rotation mechanism 55.

According to such an embodiment, during the cutting process by the operation of the cutting mechanism 1, the holding mechanism 2, the position feeding mechanism 3, and the cutting feeding mechanism 4,
Most of the supply process and the recovery process by the operation of the supply / recovery mechanism 5 simultaneously proceed and end, and the holding mechanism at the same time when the cutting process ends.
2, the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W and the processed semiconductor wafer W ′ are delivered by the operations of the position feed mechanism 3 and the supply / recovery mechanism 5, and the time can be reduced. Further, in order to safely and reliably handle the processed semiconductor wafer W ′ by coordinating the cutting process, the supplying process, and the collecting process at a position separated from the cutting mechanism 1 due to the operation setting of the holding mechanism 2 or the like, the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W ′ is processed. Damage to the wafer W and the processed semiconductor wafer W ′ are prevented.

The semiconductor wafer W to be cut in this embodiment is
Is symmetrical with respect to the center line of the thickness width, as in the structure having an impurity diffusion layer in which impurities are diffused on both sides for manufacturing discrete device substrates and an impurity non-diffusion layer in which no impurities are diffused in the center. It is applied to a wafer having specific material characteristics. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a groove Wa wider than the width of the cutting blade 12 and within a depth of about 1 mm is engraved at the required angle θ around the entire circumference of the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W or the cutting end edge. By filling the inside with the adhesive C or the like, damage such as splitting at the cutting end can be effectively prevented without attaching a contact plate or the like. When the outer edge Wb of the groove Wa is curved, the filling of the adhesive C is facilitated, and when the peripheral corner Wc of the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is curved, it is effective for handling before and after cutting. Is.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when the adhesive C is thickly coated around the end of cutting, it is more effective in preventing damage at the end of cutting of the wafer.

Further, one of the holding plates 21, which is below the holding mechanism 2, does not have a strong suction function for cutting like the holding plate 22,
Generally, the embodiment is of a flexible structure for preventing the cut-out of the processed semiconductor wafer W'on the lower side.

Further, as the main body including the moving part 51 of the supply / recovery mechanism 5, it is possible to use a commercially available transfer robot for wafers or glass substrates, which is commercially available.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, the wafer supply / recovery device in the semiconductor wafer cutting device according to the present invention is common to each claim, and the cutting process and the supply process / recovery process are simultaneously advanced to reduce time. In order to handle semiconductor wafers efficiently, safely and reliably by coordinating the cutting process with the feeding process and the collecting process at a position separated from the cutting mechanism, the semiconductor wafer can be cut efficiently without being damaged. It has the effect that it can be processed. Further, due to this effect, the cost of cutting the semiconductor wafer is reduced.

Further, as a second aspect, there is an effect that the two processed semiconductor wafers can be easily and surely simultaneously recovered to further improve the effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (A) is a front view of essential parts (cutting mechanism, holding mechanism, etc.) during a cutting operation showing an embodiment of a semiconductor wafer cutting apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 1 (C) is a front view of the same main part of FIG. 1, FIG. 1 (C) is a side view showing the connection of another main part (supply / recovery mechanism) with respect to the state of FIG.
The drawing is a plan view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a front view showing the operation cooperation of the supply and recovery device in the order of (A) to (H), and FIG. 4 (A) shows that the embodiment of the cutting device is a cutting target. FIG. 4 (A) is a front view showing an example of the structure of a semiconductor wafer to be manufactured.
Is a side view, FIG. 4 (C) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing another structural example of the target wafer. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cutting mechanism, 12 ... Cutting blade 2 ... Holding mechanism, 21,22 ... Holding board 24 ... Interval adjustment drive part, 3 ... Position feed mechanism 4 ... Cutting feed mechanism, 5 ... Supply collection mechanism 6 ... Collection part, 7 ... Supply unit W ... Unprocessed semiconductor wafer W '... Processed semiconductor wafer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cutting mechanism horizontally equipped with an inner peripheral cutting blade that rotates at a high speed to cut a semiconductor wafer from a center portion of its thickness width and divides the semiconductor wafer into two parts. A holding mechanism that keeps holding even if it becomes two processed semiconductor wafers, a cutting mechanism, and a holding mechanism,
Wafer single-wafer inner peripheral blade divided into two parts: a position feed mechanism for relatively moving in a vertical direction to separate from each other, and a cutting feed mechanism for relatively moving in a horizontal direction to move a cutting mechanism and a holding mechanism in parallel and in reverse. The cutting device has a wafer supply / recovery mechanism for recovering two processed wafers from the retaining mechanism to a recovering unit and supplying an unprocessed wafer to the retaining mechanism from the supplying unit, and the recovering mechanism is a retaining mechanism. The supply mechanism is arranged between the supply unit and the holding mechanism between the supply unit and the recovery unit, and the recovery side hand, which is the action unit of the terminal of the recovery mechanism, empties the two suction units to supply the supply mechanism. The supply-side hand, which is the functioning part of, holds one unprocessed wafer in the suction part and waits for the completion of wafer cutting at a position closest to the holding mechanism, and the holding mechanism has two wafers after completion of wafer cutting. Hold and collect processed wafers The unprocessed wafers held by the supply-side hand are inserted into the recovery-side hand by inserting the recovery-side hand when the distance between the holding side and the holding-side board is increased and the distance between both holding plates is increased. In parallel with the transfer of one wafer and the start of movement of the holding mechanism for cutting the wafer, the collection side hand conveys and stores the processed two wafers to the collection part, and in parallel with this, the supply side hand supplies the wafer. A wafer supply / recovery device that takes out the next unprocessed wafer from the unit, waits for the end of wafer cutting at a position closest to the wafer holding mechanism, and repeats and continues the above operation. 2. The holding mechanism according to claim 1,
It holds two wafers after cutting with two holding plates and rises to the horizontal operation plane due to the coordinated operation of wafer transfer between the wafer collecting side hand and the supply side hand, and the distance between both holding plates is increased. Enlarge and transfer two processed wafers to the collection side hand at the same time, pick up one unprocessed wafer from the supply side hand, again reduce the distance between the two holding plates and move down to start movement for cutting A wafer supply / recovery device characterized in that 3. A wafer supply / recovery system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the unprocessed semiconductor wafer has impurity diffusion layers on both sides and has a material property which is axisymmetric with respect to a center line of the thickness width. apparatus.